Invid's Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Alien Species (#88)

(I've excluded the Qonet, because they were begat by the Ahra Naffi and begat the Qella, and frankly that's an annoying waste of an entry.)

871. Pyn'gani. The Pyn'gani are described as "near-humans" who are distinguished from humans by their "brown skin." Um... Offensive. (And inaccurate-the skin tone of the pictured Pyn'gani appears Caucasian.)

They're weirdly obsessed with cold or something, living on one or more cold planets, and are supposedly the inventors of the carbonite freezing process used to put Han Solo in that slab.

Rating: 1/5. They're kinda terrible.

872. Qadel. The Qadel were a race of slavers exterminated by Xim the Despot, according to the Hutt play Evocar. I really would just like to point out, however, this exchange from the play:

Shool (apparently the prosecutor): "First and foremost, Xim, Son of Xer, you are charged with causing the extermination and extinction of nine sentient species."
Xim: "Nine? I know I spaced more than that."
Shool: "Among them the Qadel, the Ermi, the Veeza, and the Zoa'mon…"
Xim: "Slavers all. I did the galaxy a favor."

So Xim's reaction to being accused of genocide of nine species is "What? Which ones did you leave out?"

Rating: 1/5. Xim, however, is awesome.

873. Qella. The Qella were descended from the Qonet who were descended from the Ahra Naffi (as mentioned at the top of this article). When they learned that their moon was going to crash into their planet, causing a devastating cataclysm, they made a really big spaceship that was at least slightly organic, encoded it with all the genetic information of every species on their planet, and launched it just in time to escape the impact.

Then the ship became a legendary mystery ship and wandered around for over a hundred years, before returning to their homeworld to fix its climate change and rebuild its ecosystem, presumably intending to eventually repopulate the planet with a new population.

Wow.

What this doesn't make clear is that all this had nothing to do with the story it took place during. It was a random side distraction, albeit an interesting one.

Rating: 3/5. Of course, we know next to nothing about the actual Qella.

874. Qieg. Sapient. Insectoids. From Lan Barell.

Rating: 1/5.

875. Qiraash. Qiraash are near-humans who aren't normally able to interbreed with humans, presumably because of their huge, bulbous crania, though apparently with some genetic tweaking it would be possible. (Who knows how we know this?)

The only known Qiraash was a probable Force-sensitive who went into hiding on Tatooine, and can be momentarily seen in the background of the Mos Eisley cantina.

Rating: 2/5. Very slightly interesting.

876. Qom Jha and Qom Qae. Qom Jha and Qom Qae are relatively small flying beings that can apparently coordinate to lift small spacecraft, among other things. The only biological difference between the groups is that Qom Qae are usually smaller and live in the open and are adapted to bright light, while the Qom Jha are nocturnal/cave dwelling beings.

They aren't given names at birth, and must earn their names through deeds.

Rating: 3/5. They're reasonably interesting.

877. Qonto. Apparently, at least some Qonto are known for extreme perception.

Rating: 1/5.

878. Quadrant Seven. The Quadrant Seven (yes, that's the name of their species, and also their planet) apparently had, up until the Clone Wars, not seen war on their world for 573 years. They're peaceful and don't like technology and do like nature.

Apparently, they have large numbers of antennae that grow like human hair. This is kind of hilarious.

Rating: 2/5. The stereotypical silliness of nature harmony/hate technology is generally dumb, but I like the silliness of their name and I also like their antennae-hair conceptually.

879. Quarren. The Quarren are inhabitants of Dac, also known as Mon Calamari, homeworld of the Mon Calamari (surprise!), along with several other species, notably the completely ridiculous yet awesome Amphi-Hydrus. They are, like most of Dac's inhabitants, amphibious, and they also have tentacles on their faces. In specific circumstances (mating), Quarren can change the color of their skin, but usually they're fixed on a single color, most often orange.

Quarren don't like the Mon Calamari because outsiders treat the Mon Calamari as if they're the owners of the planet, but are forced to get along most of the time because the Mon Calamari are the planet's primary economic power. This leads to much tension between the species, and the Quarren have fought wars with the Mon Cal at virtually ever opportunity.

Rating: 3/5. These guys helped lead to the Mon Calamari being one of the most interesting groups in the Star Wars galaxy.

880. Quermians. The Quermians are not-mammalian-looking mammals with really long necks and four arms. The Arkanians created them from another similar but smaller species through genetic engineering, and left them to develop on a terraformed planet free of predation.

It's believed by many that they have some degree of telepathy, but the Quermians themselves claim they're just really good at reading body language. A number of Quermian Jedi have run around the galaxy.

Rating: 3/5. Frankly, I find them more ridiculous than some of the more extreme species, like brains in jars, rock monsters that grow into moons, and crystal demon lords that used to rule the galaxy, just because their necks are so doggoned long that they probably shouldn't work. Ah, well.

-Signing off.